The more~than~human agents of the Altamira cave, considered colonizers of the paintings, blur the boundaries between mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism in this research. Inorganic elements such as Silica (Si), encapsulated in glass, an essential element in the origin of the first living beings on Earth and with it the rocks and vegetation that gave origin to the pigments of the Altamira paintings; iron oxide (Fe2O3) and Carbon (C) mix with bacteria and fungi, questioning the idea/concept of life as something organic.
Fungi and bacteria cultures were collected from inside and outside the cave. With these samples, we approximate three stages of deepness in the cave. An exterior one, from the outside of Altamira’s current door, is the area that was the wide entrance of the cave during the Paleolithic, now the rocks that collapsed and hid the cave for so many years aren’t there anymore because of the archeological excavations and the need of making an accessible door to the visitors. This area is where people gathered and the activities of daily life took place.
Our next step is collecting material from inside the cave, from the soil attached to Loli’s shoes, one of the scientists who entered the cave for the yearly calibration of the measurement equipment inside of the cave. This soil was stepped on by so many, home to countless beings, and compressed by machines to make the cave “accessible” to the public.
Lastly, we propose an interphase stage, a sample from Loli’s hand. Her hand has been inside the cave touching the soil as well as the measurement machines installed inside of the cave, exploring the potential living ecotone that is generated between the microclimate of the cave and the skin of the person who enters it.
The encounter of all the organic/inorganic more~than~human of Altamira was documented and explored in different scales, temporalities, and textualities. The video approaches this ongoing research as an archive of images and data whose actual life referent eludes us, as both speakers, the enthusiastic amateur, inspired and ignorant, and the matter-of-fact savvy AI trying to address human questions, have no real notion of the life of these entities and find them “complicated”.